Another collection of lively punk/metal hybrid
tunes, "El Comercio del Dolar" seems to have a little more attitude
than its predecessor, "Cosas de Este Mundo." Of course, I'm judging
this by the lead vocalist's tone and the music's edge because the extent of my
Spanish is very limited.

Language barrier aside, "El Comercio del
Dolar" is a solid rock'n'roll album through and through with its driving
rhythms and hook laden yet heavy melodies. Even when things slow down, as they
do on the token ballad here, "Romanos de las Piedras," the music has
enough edge to keep you from punching the skip button. Much of this has to do
with the lead vocalist's ability to deliver give even clean vocals a hint of a
snarl.

Of course, the bagpipe intro of "Dios
Salve a McFarland," which sounds a bit like a Dropkick Murphys song, is a
little shocking but the song still rocks.

I'm sure that "El Comercio del Dolar"
would be even better if I could understand more of the lyrics. However, I'd
rather the band kept to their home language and retain their original style. In
other words, it obviously ain't broke, so why fix it?

"Cosas de Este Mundo" is an interesting and
lively hard rock / punk combination. Since I don't speak much Spanish, the
lyrics are pretty much unknown to me, but the CD has an infectious intensity
that will grab most listeners despite their primary language.

Not heavy metal and not really quite punk, "Cosas
de Este Mundo" falls somewhere between the hard rock and punk rock genres.
The guitars are crisp and clear, like the best of popular hard rock, but the
tempos and vocal styles often lead more toward The Clash-type punk. It's a seamless
combination here, however, with the final result being acceptable to fans of
either genre.

A highlight, especially for Ramones fans like myself,
is "Tu," the band's "cover" of "Somebody Put Something
In My Drink." The lyrics are completely different (I checked with Alta
Vista's Babelfish translator), but the song is given a harder rock edge that
makes it sound great.

The only complaint I can make about this 2-CD set is
that it should have been a one CD set: Disc 1 runs just over 30 minutes while
Disc 2 runs just over 34 minutes. All of it would have easily fit onto one CD.